what's wrong with her mom?

The film never said anything about past troubles between Leigh and her mom, but judging by the reaction of her parents when she first came home, the dad was the favorite.

As for her mom, it was pretty evident her mom was going through her own life crisis: starting her own dancing business, building an add-on to their home as a project for her and her husband, etc.

The mother was just going through her own crisis about her life not turning out how she imagined, and probably took it out Leigh, feeling resentment against Leigh.

I think her mom was enjoying her life (as in having the house to herself & her husband). She had been used to this, then, BAMM! her 29 year old college graduated daughter with a good job and promising career shows up out of no where. This interrupts her life. Had Leigh been going through a mental or physical illness or was fired from her job, I think her mom would have been more open to allowing Leigh to live there until she got on her feet.

She became even more resentful that her adult daughter, who quit a good job for no good reason, was going out and partying, coming in during the middle of the night, etc. She was basically watching her daughter become an irresponsible teenager again. Also, she felt like she was enabling her daughter's irresponsible ways by allowing her to live there. Leigh was a "daddy's girl" growing up, so naturally dad enjoyed that she was back in the house.

This is only my opinion. I have a teenage son who is graduating HS this year. Even though I dread the empty nest syndrome that I will probably have for awhile after he moves out, I can imagine that I would not be too happy that he decided to quit a good job at the age of 29 (or 30?) for no good reason, move home, and party till all hours of the night. I'm just trying to imagine myself in Leigh's mother's shoes and attempt to explain what Leigh's mom was feeling - or at least how I believe she was feeling. Hope this helps :)




Some hurt, some love, some shout. I fought the world and I lost that bout. ~ Blue October